Everything You Need to Know About Fishbowl’s Bill of Materials Module

Whenever you need a list of Parts you'll use to manufacture another Part, that's what you call Bill of Materials. In Fishbowl, you have a module for Bill of Materials that you can find in the Manufacturing group. Examples of a Bill of Materials include recipes, components to put together an item, a chemical formula, and so on. You can even sometimes have a Bill of Materials that has an additional Bill of Materials within it. Here's everything you need to know about how to use the Bill of Materials module to help with your business.

How to create your Bill of Materials

Inside the Bill of Materials module, numerous buttons can be used. You have a Delete button, a Save button, a Quick Build button, and many others. The one you'll be needing to create a Bill of Materials is the New button. Find the New button on the Module toolbar and click on it. Once you've clicked on it, you should input the number or name of the Bill of Materials in the Number field. In the description field, you can input a description of what you're assembling with these materials.

You'll notice an Auto Creation option that's below the description. This option lets you decide whether the finished good is manufactured when it's needed for a sales order, or if it will be selected from inventory. You can select from five choices in the Auto Create section. Short Quantity means the manufacture order will be created for a short quantity. Build to Order means a manufacture order will be created to be picked by the parent order. Always Create means that a manufacture order is always created to replace the needed quantity. Order Quantity sets your manufacture orders to be created if the order quantity is short. Lastly, you can also choose to select Never, which will completely disable Auto Create, preventing any creation of a manufacturer order from being automatic.

After you've decided on the setting, you've completed the creation of the new Bill of Materials. Be aware that you can also create a Bill of Materials through the CSV Import, the Data Import module, and the BOM Import Module. Additionally, you can select the New BOM button in the Part module to create a new Bill of Materials.

How to add items to a Bill of Materials

If you need to add more items to your Bill of Materials, it can be done in a few short steps. Open your Bill of Materials and select the Add Item button. You'll find it in the Items section at the top-left corner. You'll have a list of Item types you can choose to be added. Finished Good is the items created after a work order has been completed. Raw Good is the items that are consumed after the completion of a work order. Repair represents the items that could have their cost adjusted after the finishing of a work order, but the item won't be consumed. Note represents an item that's added as an instruction for the work order and has no part associated with it. Lastly, Batch Add represents a combination of multiple non-configurable Raw Goods and Finished Goods added to a work order.

Once you've made your decision on the item type, the next steps will involve inputting data. Input which Part and quantity are needed. Then, in the next section, you'll add a description of the item. After this, you can click Finish, then click Save, and you'll be complete with adding items to your Bill of Materials. Keep in mind that all Bill of Materials is required to have one repair item, or one Finished Good and Raw Good. You can have several items assembled by inputting multiple Finished Goods. 

How to add stages to a Bill of Materials

In addition to adding items, you can add stages to your Bill of Materials. As discussed earlier, a stage is when you have a Bill of Materials that's within a Bill of Materials, making it a subassembly. To create this, you first need to open the specific Bill of Materials and select the Add Item button. This is located near the top of the Items list. Once you've selected that, click on Raw Good, and move to the next section. You'll then have to input the Part that will have a Bill of Materials. After you've added the Part, choose it from the list, and select the Stage checkbox. This is located in the Item Information tab that's to the right of the list. Input the Bill of Materials that creates the item in the stage dropdown. You also can determine if a stage is created for the full quantity through the Auto Create section. If you decide you don't want it created at all, you can select Never. Separate work orders will be given to the different stages of a Bill of Materials.

How to edit a Bill of Materials

A Bill of Materials can be edited by first loading it up from the Bill of Materials module. Once there, highlight the item in the Items section that you plan to edit. You have the option to change the Item Information, Pick Locations, and the Configuration tabs. The Configuration tab is what shows you all the items that are on the Bill of Materials. The Item Information tab shows you the descriptions, quantities, and other details. Lastly, the Pick Locations tab shows the preferred Pick Locations of items in a Bill of Materials. After you've decided on the change you want to make, the changes will be complete once you click Save.

Using the Bill of Materials function in Fishbowl can help keep you organized in all of the Parts you'll need for each item you're assembling. It can simplify the process of completing your work orders. You can gain more knowledge about the Bill of Materials by doing some Fishbowl inventory training.